Category Archives: Bike Reviews

I’ve missed a couple demos over the past year and there’s been several new, really interesting bikes come out so my bike test list was starting to get quite long. But with three or four extra testers to help grab bikes we made a serious attempt to knock off as many of my must-rides this year as we could. The list was packed with several new aggressive geometry 29ers in both shorter and mid- travel configurations, short travel 27.5″ Endorphin competitors, and several full on longer travel enduro rigs.

I arrived three days early to get some extra Moab riding in before the demo began, starting off with what has become maybe my favorite Moab ride: Mag 7 to Portal. I got in town around noon and parked my truck up at the top of Gemini Bridges road. I was pleased to see the new Getaway single track starting right from the top now thus avoiding the first mile or two of dirt road. Its flowy, creative and fun. I liked it. Having ridden Bull Run pretty much every time I’ve done Mag 7 and being on a bit of time clock, I chose to stay on Getaway clear down to Arth’s, then on to Little Canyon. While the new top section of Getaway was stellar, the lower portion was just OK though more direct, but overall I still prefer Bull Run.

I always love the climb up to Gold Bar rim. It is so creatively routed and has such spectacular views that you hardly notice you’re climbing. The stuff up along the rim is both challenging and rewarding.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Endorphin handled all this ride, including the “A” option drops and final gnarly DH type descent down the Portal. The geometry and stability allowed it to handle all of the steep chutes, steps, and tricky switch backs without any sketchiness and only a bit slower than with a bigger bike like the Chilcotin. And the Endo was much more fun on the more pedally Mag 7 stuff.

Next day I caught an early shuttle for what was supposed to be Geyser Pass, but overnight rain kept us lower for our starting point for the Whole Enchilada. We were dropped off at a back door entrance into the lower section of Jimmy Kean which is an up and down alpine singletrack loop that takes in much of the terrain of Hazard and Kokopelli but in a more circuitous fashion. I’m glad I got to do it without having to commit to the full seven mile loop in the middle of a Whole Enchilada ride. The rain was light but steady and the trail surface started to get a bit slick and muddy in a few places but for the most part was in really good shape. The sandy parts on UPS and LPS and clear down Porcupine Rim were perfect. The Endorphin was again a nearly perfect companion. Fast and responsive and a good pedaler on the flatter and climbier sections, yet still solid, smooth, and responsive on the fast shark fin chop that is ever present on Porc Rim. Major props to the X-Fusion Sweep fork that was stellar on reacting to repeated sharp-edged hits with the rebound adjustment full open.

Moody Castle Valley views on this day.

Friday morning I was up bright and early to get in line for the 9:00 am opening. I did make the rookie mistake of not picking up my packet the night before so had to stand in the packet pick up line before I could get to the gate. This was not my first rodeo so should’ve known better, but was enjoying my Thursday ride so well I totally spaced it.

The same qualifiers apply to these reviews as always. They should be considered as first ride, first impressions only. We try to get the set up and suspension dialed as well as we can for a short ride that usually lasts anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. So if you’re expecting full-on extended reviews you may be disappointed. We do stand by our opinions though, and feel like we are pretty good at feeling out the true identity, strengths, weaknesses, and soul of any given bike.

We rated all the bikes on a scale of 1-5 for visual impression/looks, climbing ability, descending, cornering, general agility, fit, and an intangible factor. Lowest score is a 7, highest is a 35.

Pivot Switchblade

The original Titus Switchblade was tops on my list when I was ready to invest in my first real, high-end full suspension bike some 15 years ago because it ticked all the boxes of what I was looking for in an aggressive trail bike. The new Pivot Switchblade was tops on my list for this demo for the same reasons. It definitely ticked all the boxes. The Pivot Switchblade is an aggressive trail bike with 135mm of rear travel and 150mm up front. It ships with either a 29” or 27.5+ wheels. It also sports pretty slack head angles at 67.25-degrees in 29er configuration and 66.5 in 27.5+ form. Chainstays are nice and short at 16.85”, yet it can still accommodate a front derailleur and 3.25” tires. With a stiff carbon frame that’s fairly light, it can be built up in the sub 30 lb range without totally breaking the bank. It sounded like the perfect All-Trail bike (Yes, I’m coining a new bike category. You’re welcome.)

I scrambled to the Pivot tent first thing and was able to secure this black, size large SB, set up with 27.5+ wheels. As with all Pivot’s recently, the Switchblade has nice compact, visually balanced look. The bottom bracket, seat tube down tube junction is thick and oozes stiffness. The links are short and well executed keeping things tight and aesthetically pleasing. The fit was perfect for my 71″, average body type.

Moving up the trail was easy and the SB responded well to pedal input. Lateral stiffness kept things in line and for a 135mm travel 27.5+ it bumped off small kickers and drops with relative ease, but felt slightly sluggish doing it. Cornering also felt a bit vague with the bigger tires. They didn’t really lack for grip, I just didn’t ever really feel a nice edge to set with confidence. I took it on some rocky, more technical climbs on the Deadman’s Loop and was impressed at its efficiency and climbing grip though less so with its ability to roll up and over square edges. The rear end seemed to stiffen too much and caused a noticeable hop in its progress though no discernable pedal kickback. Getting around tight switchbacks was natural and didn’t require any major adjustments in technique. I’d give it a 4/5 on smooth and technical climbing. This is a good characteristic for an all day trail bike and an enduro race rig.

For a longer travel 27.5 plus what wasn’t expected is that it didn’t feel super plush on rougher descents and didn’t seem super smooth on smaller trail irregularities, an area where the Ibis Mojo 3+ really shined. Maybe I didn’t ever get the tire pressure dialed which I know is critical or maybe I didn’t ever get the Fox Float DPS EVOL adjusted correctly, but quite a bit of fiddling didn’t substantially improve this lack of plushness. I’d like to try it again with a Float X2 or or CCDB Air. Perhaps a nice custom coil like the Push Eleven Six would be the ticket, but the Float EVOL wasn’t doing it. I know Pivot knows how to give a bike that deep and plush rear suspension feel because I’ve ridden the Mach 6 on several occasions, but I couldn’t help but think how the SB felt more akin to the 429 Trail than the Mach 6. Maybe that was by design, but I expected more of a Mach 6 29er/27.5+.

When I took the SB back to the Pivot tent I asked the technician to “switch” on the 29″ wheels. I immediately felt more comfortable. It felt more responsive to pedal input, cut into corners better, and rolled up and over square edges with less kick. The bigger wheel transformed the bike for me. It still wasn’t perfect, but I liked it a lot better in 29er form.

Score: 30/35 in 27.5+ form; 32/35 in 29er form.

Bike manufacturers are finally getting the short stem wide bar thing although these weren’t extreme.

XT brakes and KS Lev dropper worked as expected.

Unlike Ben, I liked the SRAM drivetrains better than the Shimano. This one had vague shifting and kept missing shifts and dropping gears.

The Fox 36 Fork was free of flex yet fairly plush and controlled. The Float DPS shock seemed outgunned and underwhelmed me in this application. The SB deserves better.

Rocky Mountain Slayer

The Slayer is back with a full carbon frame, 27.5 wheels, and with 165mm of enduro crushing travel. The Slayer was the first of three full on, long travel enduro/am bikes we rode. Unfortunately we weren’t able to take it on the kind of steep, fast, gnarly trails that would really make it shine, but it had all the right numbers to make it work in the roughest terrain. We were, however able to get a reasonably good impression of its strengths on our ride. The very tame trails that access the Deadman’s loop which is the most technical trail at the Brand Tails showed that the Slayer was a pretty good pedaler. For a big bike it cruised along the buff xc Lazy trail with relative efficiency and was able to keep up speed without feeling too sluggish on the flats . As I turned up the rocky Deadman’s loop I discovered it also climbed pretty well. The horst type Smoothlink rear suspension eased over square edges without sagging too much into its travel but there was enough squat that combined with a relatively low bottom bracket, pedal strikes were common.

Despite its slack head angle the climbing position felt natural and it was easy to get forward to weight the front end due to the steep 75 degree seat angle. I liked how it gathered traction on loose scrambles and worked its way around switchbacks with little floppiness or drama. There was no hiding the fact that it was a big bike though.

Once pointed downhill, descending was smooth and fairly well cntrolled but noisy. I checked the lock on the clutch derailleur and it was only partially on causing the chain to slap quite a bit. Once locked on it quieted down but then got noisy again a mile or two down the trail. Not sure if the problem was with the derailleur or the bike but it was annoying. I’d forgotten how I hate noisy bikes since most are pretty quiet lately. The Fox X2 shock worked well on this platform and absorbed everything in its path with a nice controlled plushness. I couldn’t help but keep feeling like the Slayer was just beginning to really unwind when I’d get to the bottom of the short descents in the Bar M area. I’d love to take it on some longer, steeper runs. I think this is great addition to the full on enduro category and is built to take on everything up to and including lift served runs and all day big mountain climbs.

Score: 31/35.

Fox X2. Super plush damping with loads of adjustment.

I liked this cockpit set up. I should, it’s exactly like mine. 800mm SixC bars and XT brakes.

I’ve been wanting to ride the Patrol since it came out in aluminum two or three years ago. They did’t have the carbon Scout at the Transition booth when I stopped by so I took this opportunity to swing a leg over its big brother. The Patrol was like the Slayer’s Canadian twin. They both felt very similar and rode quite a bit alike, so I’ll focus on their differences. The Patrol sits squarely in the big bike category despite just 155mm of travel due to its plush ride, long front center and slack head angle. It did feel a little sluggish on more xc trails (like all the bigger enduro/AM bikes we rode, but we felt that it climbed and pedaled a bit more briskly than the Rocky Mountain.

The carbon frame was fairly light and laterally stiff and there was little noise or commotion while plowing over rocks and chop. The size large frame fit me very well at 5’11.5″ and it did not complain at the more pedaly ride I took it on. In fact, the seated pedaling position felt pretty upright and comfortable though maybe not quite centered as the Slayer.

Overall, I liked this bike quite a bit though it didn’t do anything outstanding to really set it apart from the crowd. I could certainly live very happily with the Patrol as a bigger, do-all enduro crushing steed, but would I spend my hard earned money on it? That’s the question we all have to answer. Go ride it if you have a chance. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Score: 30/35

Both the Patrol and the Slayer ran on these new Flow mk3 alloy rims from Stan’s. They are wide at 28.5mm internal width and felt stiff. They gave the tires a nice wide print and a little more rounded profile without taking away from the intended shape and cornering edge of he tires. The low profile helps avoid rim strikes.

Nice lines, good fit, and built to bomb….although I liked the X2 on the Slayer better than this Monarch Plus Delux shock. The Monarch always feels slightly less reactive.

Transition gets it.

Guide brakes are an acquired taste…. and after riding nothing but Shimano XT on my personal bikes it takes awhile to get used to the more gradual engagement of the Guides. The Pike and Fox 36 forks felt relatively equivalent this year. Both very good. I good easily live with either. Loved the all black with flo blue highlights.

Stay tuned. There’s more to come. I rode 14 bikes in all. Ben rode another 6-8 that I didn’t.

Orbea Occam

The Rallon, Orbea’s 160mm travel 27.5 AM/Enduro bike, was actually on my list but after riding three big bikes in a row I decided that a short-travel trail bike would be much more fun on the more xc-oriented Bar M Trails so the tech at the Orbea tent recommended the 120mm travel Ocam. Honestly, I didn’t know much about the Ocam and I wasn’t expecting much from this Spanish 29er but it did meet the criteria and looked sweet all dressed up in orange and dangled with some fairly spicy components. Venerable XT brakes and drive train did the heavy lifting duties of going and stopping while DT Swiss X1700 Spline alloy wheels spun free and displayed little flex. Full carbon construction with sharp lines, 148mm Boost rear spacing, internal cable routing, and press fit bottom bracket round out the frame details.

I was immediately and pleasantly surprised by the Occam. The size large’s fit was spot on and pedal input was crisp yet still felt active enough to keep the rear wheel tracking the ground on bumpier ground. The linkage activated single pivot with Fox Float Evol were well mated for travel type and leverage ratio. The rear shock mounts high up parallel to the top tube leaving plenty of room for a water bottle (or two). The bar and stem combo was a year or two too narrow and long but it didn’t adversely affect handling once I readapted. Turn in was not sluggish at all and it loved to carve the faster twistier North Forty trail. The 17.1″ chain stays kept things tight and responsive without giving up much in the way of straight line stability. The big wheels made it easy to keep momentum up. The Ardent front tire rolled well but isn’t my favorite for cornering grip. The new Forecaster rear tire by Maxxis did not distinguish itself in any bad ways. In fact I didn’t notice anything about it all, which is usually a good thing. Also of note for being much better than most folks give it credit for was the Fox 32 Factory fork. If you start pushing into the routier side of trail riding you may want to upgrade to the Fox 34, Rock Shox Pike, or MRP Stage, but it felt controlled, accurate, and plush on the small stuff during my ride.

Overall the Occam was high on my list of favorite bikes I rode this year. It was a bar, stem, and front tire away from being in my top two or three. So just because you may not be as familiar with this small Spanish manufacturer, you should still give Orbea a look. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised as I was.

Score: 31/35

This Fizik saddle matched the orange and black kit nicely, but was a little too rounded on the top for my tush.

Linkage activated cleavus driven Fox DPS Evol shock worked well on this bike and was tucked out of the way nicely.

This cockpit was a bit dated/xc but the bike still impressed.

Short(ish), relatively flex free Boost spaced rear end.

Turner Flux

Dave Turner from Turner bikes has been working on this carbon Flux for awhile and it shows…. in good ways and bad. The short travel 27.5 Flux was one of our favorites when we rode it a couple years ago but the alloy frame looked dated and was falling behind the times. We clamored for a carbon version with Czar-like styling and that is exactly what Turner delivered. The quickly changing geometry and wheel spacing “standards” however has left small frame companies like Turner struggling to keep up. When this Flux went to carbon molds, 142mm rear wheel spacing was the standard and reach numbers for a large frame were only just starting to approach the 17″ range for most manufacturers. Rather than scrap the process and start over Turner forged ahead with the older standards but they’ve got those numbers dialed whether by inability to keep up with the new standards or by design, I don’t know. But knowing Dave, changes would’ve had to make a discernable difference for him to start over just to keep up with the Joneses. Turner makes bikes with a no-nonsense, no marketing BS approach and according to how he feels a bike should ride. Many riders, may in fact appreciate a new carbon frame with more traditional geometry and with the same 142mm wheel spacing as their $1500 carbon wheels that still have plenty of life left in them.

After riding several bikes with longer reach I did notice the Flux felt comparatively short and compact. Not necessarily a bad thing, but different from the direction most are going these days. Again, many may really like that fact. It felt nimble in the tight stuff and easily exploded off every small bump and booter in the trail. Standing and pumping and popping was definitely a hoot and where the Flux felt most in its happy place. It didn’t have the momentum-carrying gyroscopic effect of the larger 29er wheeled bikes I’d just stepped off of but it wasn’t hard to keep it up to pace either. The beautiful carbon frame was laterally stiff and showed an obvious attention to detail. The dw-link 120mm rear snapped to attention when the power was applied yet still felt relatively active as it encountered trail obstacles. The seated position was centered and comfortable though a bit cramped with a short stem. Even so, one could easily climb all day on this bike then still enjoy a fun, fast, semi-rowdy descent without missing their big bike too much on the way down.

If you like a non-wagon wheeled, fun, fast, stiff, responsive carbon bike with more traditional (or more moderately updated) geometry the Flux should be high on your list.

Score: 29/35

As Ben mentioned in his RFX review, these Knight carbon wheels were stiff and responsive without beating you up like some carbon wheels.

As with the Ocam, the Fox 32 did its job admirably, but if you choose to delve deeper into the rougher terrain or are on the heavy side you may want to opt for a stiffer fork.

I really liked the looks of this white and black color scheme. The Flux is a very visually appealing bike.

Guerilla Gravity Trail Pistol

It’s no secret that I’ve been smitten with the new short to mid-travel aggressive geometry 29ers. Two of them topped my list of favorites from last year’s Interbike test (The Evil Following and Canfield Riot). It’s also no secret that I fell in love with the Megatrail, Guerilla Gravity’s 150mm travel AM ripper, I rode at Outerbike in 2014. So naturally when the Denver company announced their own 120mm travel 29er my ears perked up. When I learned it came with 148mm rear wheel spacing and could accommodate 29er (Crush Mode) and 27.5+ (Plush Mode) wheels my interest really piqued. Crush Mode and Plush Mode are accessed via the shock mount flip chips which optimizes the geometry and suspension for 29” wheel-ed crushing or 27.5 Plus wheel-ed plushness.

A perusal of the numbers tells me the Trail Pistol is ready for most anything. Head angle is a rowdy 66.6 degrees in Crush Mode and 67.3mm in Plush Mode for those fast and furious descents. A steep seat tube angle puts the rider in an ideal pedaling position at 75.8 degrees in the 29er setting and 76.6 with 27.5+ setting. The effective top tube and reach numbers are super rangy allowing for nice short stems and most will find that sizing down will fit like the bigger size on their current bike. We rode the medium, which is right in the suggested sizing range for a 5’11” rider, even though I normally ride size large. When I hopped on the bike it felt good, maybe even a touch on the long side. I certainly can’t imagine riding a large. In fact, even with short 16.9″ chain stays the wheel base is plenty long at 47.5″ even in the medium frame.

But we don’t buy bikes based solely on the numbers so we took the Trail Pistol for a ride. Out on the trail the TP does feel bigger/longer than some, alright most, of the size large 29ers we rode. The frame is built burly and the build we rode felt a bit heavy especially compared to the carbon 29ers we rode. In pedaling this seemed to translate into less responsiveness than the lighter, spritelier 29ers, but some of this perceived sluggishness could also be blamed on our end of the day tired legs or, who knows, maybe the tank-like flat army green color. However, a bike that still seems to carry you along at an easy, levitating clip even while tired really earns high marks. This one didn’t. To its credit the Trail Pistol did bend itself around the flowy trails we rode without feeling like a battleship and it was fairly easy to get the front end up thanks to the short chain stays. The standing and hammering position felt comfortable and commanding. As speeds picked up the TP really started to come alive and it felt solid and controlled on rough descents and did not get knocked off its line at all. In fact, the faster you went, the better it felt. The rear end didn’t feel that plush but I think with some additional tuning or a different shock that could be substantially improved. I also learned that you can order the TP with a longer shock to up the rear travel to 130mm which would provide a little more cushion when the geo and take-no-prisoners character of the frame got you in over your head.

So who is the Trail Pistol for? I think anyone who wants a well-built, solid, aluminum, aggressive 29er with great versatility and that one-off made in the USA semi-custom exclusiveness at a reasonable price should definitely give the guys at Guerrilla Gravity a call and set up a demo. They are terrific to work with and will bend over backwards to get you set up with a bike that fits you and be there to service your needs after the sale. With some smart choices on wheels and components, I have no doubt you could build up the TP in the 27-28 lb range and make it feel nearly as responsive as those carbon wonder bikes we rode yet still maintain that burly, built to thrash quality GG is becoming famous for.

Score: 28/35

This two position Rock Shox Pike was sturdy and responded well. I liked it better in the 140 setting than the 120. The Monarch shock was OK but we felt it could be a little more plush.

Stubby stem equals good

One of the cool things about Guerrilla Gravity is you can choose any one of a dozen or more colors to suit your own preferences. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Guerilla Green, but like I said, there are several others to choose from. The built in NUTS (Necessary Under the Saddle) Bracket for holding a tube and tire changing essentials is a nice touch, as is the curved “hunch back” shape of the top tube that allows room for a water bottle for those who choose to skip the traditional way for carrying what you need.

Ibis Ripley LS

I’ve been trying to get a ride on the LS since it was announced last year. We loved the original Ripley we rode two years ago. It was nimble, responsive, and just loved to stand and hammer. Here’s a link to our review of that bike. It was a tad short in the cockpit and a little steep in the head angle but was so fun to ride we were willing to overlook any slight faults it had. It was the first 29er we’d ridden that made us want to, uh, ride a 29er. Well, at least, until we heard about the geometry updates on the longer, slacker LS. With a degree and a half slacker head angle and 1.5″ longer front center and slightly lower bottom bracket it sounded perfect for some aggressive all-trail shenanigans. Other frame updates include: New, better thought out internal cable routing, increased tire clearance, a return to threaded bottom bracket, seat mast lowered by 1/2” to accommodate today’s longer droppers, Boost 148mm x 12mm Shimano through axle, and stiffer eccentric cores.

The first thing that was apparent is that the Ripley LS had not lost the fun, playful, quick-handling nature of the original. It still bobbed and weaved through tight, curvy single track with a nimbleness usually only associated with smaller wheeled bikes. The longer wheelbase did not seem to slow it down in the curves. The size large frame, flat wide bar and short stem created a perfect seated and standing environment from which to do business. It felt comfortable, yet still allowed for an aggressive, head-over-bars position for weighting the front wheel when leaning into corners. The few short climbs we did on our test loop were dispatched with ease, usually standing and just staying in a taller gear and hammering up. Once pointed downward, the LS was confident and tracked through rocks and chunder with confidence and stability. For just 120mm of travel the rear end felt surprisingly controlled and plush.

Frame construction appeared top notch and looked gorgeous. The rear end was stiffer than I remembered from the original thanks to the new beefed up boost rear triangle. The Ripley, like most Ibis bikes, is a clean, uncluttered design. The new cable routing looks intuitive and was free of rattles. The threaded bottom bracket was free of squeaks and creaks.

We were really impressed with the Ripley LS. It is a well-sorted bike that did everything well and looked good doing it. The ideal buyer would be someone looking for a light, responsive all-trail 29er that feels more like a 27.5 while popping and playing yet still displays those desirable 29er traits on rolling, up and down trails and in choppy, rocky momentum sapping terrain.

Score: 33/35

LS = Long and Slack. Not as long and slack as some, but Ibis struck a near perfect balance while updating the Ripley to a more aggressive geometry.

The Following has created quite a stir in the bike industry over the past several months since its release and left other manufacturers scrambling to catch up. Evil carved out a whole new niche in the bike world with its short travel, aggressive geometry 29er trail shredder. “Monster truck wheels with a sports car feel…. A FUN, versatile, yet aggressive short travel, big wheel trail bike with progressive geometry that could be at home on all day adventures, slashing trails or riding jump lines.” is how Evil Bikes describes the Following on their site and we’d have to agree they hit their target. I’ve been super intrigued by this bike since I first started reading about it and have been dying to take it for a spin.

I knew Evil would not officially be at the Dirt Demo but I was hoping some component company would use it as a platform to spotlight their product or someone from the small company might show up on the outskirts with a bike our two to loan out to a lucky few. A query on mtbr did not turn up any leads and in fact one poster who is fairly well connected with Evil said they would not be there. I was disappointed but resigned myself to not being able to ride The Following. But as I was sitting eating my lunch a guy rode up on an Insurgent, Evil’s just-released 27.5″ enduro rig. I quickly dropped what I was eating and asked him where he got it. Vittoria tires has a new mountain bike tire line they were wanting to showcase and could not have picked a better bike to get attention drawn to their tent.

They only had two bikes, an Insurgent and the Following which were both out when I scrambled to the Vittoria tent near the end of the day but I was fortunate to only have to wait a few minutes before this black medium sized The Follwing came rolling back in, its rider still wiping a huge grin off his face.

I’d read with interest the long sizing discussions on the mtbr.com Evil Bikes forum and wondered, with The Following’s long effective top tube and reach if I’d be more comfortable on a medium or large. I’m still a little undecided which I’d order if I were ordering one today, but I will say this medium fit quite well. It may have been a bit cramped for long smoother climbs, but for the standing and hammering I was able to do on it, the medium felt great. The Following really encourages a stand up and shred attitude with it’s rally racer low, long, and slack geometry. The short chain stays make you want to pump and manual everything in site. All the while the big wheels and well-controlled but short suspension travel are just gobbling up some pretty nasty trail conditions that have flummoxed many much more DH=specific bikes I’ve ridden here at Bootleg Canyon over the years. Super impressive. I was never aware of the bigger wagon wheels doing anything that compromised the ride in any way, even though when looking out over the bars the front wheel sticks out there quite prominently.

Climbing was exceptional on the short steep, sometimes loose and often rocky ascents on the way down our usual run. The rear tire stuck to the ground and did not spin out or bounce you around when putting down the power. We didn’t have an opportunity to test it on any long, sustained climbs but it pedaled very efficiently both seated and standing and the seated position seemed to put the rider in a good position for long climbs…..although I must admit, I didn’t sit much on the Following. It was all about the BMX style pumping, gapping, and railing. Handling can be described as slot-car effective. I did not have any trouble getting the big wheels around in tight spots and switchbacks, yet it still felt incredibly stable on fast, rock-littered, and ledgy descents. It was almost unbelievable how The Following could feel both like a small, quick handling bike and a big bruiser AM bike at the same time. In fact by time I got to the entrance of the same long, super steep, sketchy chute (The Hour Glass) that the Riot navigated with relative ease I’d developed enough confidence in the gnar-capability of The Following that I decided to send it down. Besides, Nate was sitting at the bottom with a video camera waiting for the show so I was pretty much obligated to do it. I’ve come to realize over the past while after riding some pretty capable short travel bikes that descending and gnar-tech ability has more to do with geometry than travel and the Following with its excellent progressive geometry confirmed this theory in spades as it took me safely down the Hour Glass with only slightly more drama than the Riot.

Being a showcase for Vitorria’s new line of mtb tires The Following was shod with Vittoria’s excellent 2.3″ Morsa tire front and back that resembles a cross between a High Roller II and Minion DHF. They had good volume and exceptional traction in the loose, rocky, and dry Bootleg conditions but not quite the same ultimate braking grip on steep rock faces as the 3C High Roller II, thus the extra drama on the Hour Glass super chute as I had more trouble controlling my speed on the Following than the HRII shod Riot.

In summary, I can’t imagine a better blend of fun and aggressiveness and a wider range of usefulness in a mountain bike than is offered by The Following. Outside of XC racing on one end and bigger drops and super chunky, fast World Cup DH type rock gardens on the other where more suspension is really required it can just about do it all. Believe the hype. The Following is a true game changer and will redefine how other manufacturers design bikes for years to come.

Count me as a one of The Following’s followers. A very impressive and fun bike.

Dave’s Extra Legitimate Travel Apparatus (Delta Link). I don’t know how the mad scientist Dave Weagle does it, stuffing all the good suspension action in that tangle of shock and linkage down there but I know it’s effective and keeps the weight low, down by your feet where it belongs.

With its black on black color scheme and dark moniker I thought it appropriate that we shoot The Following in a cave… with spider webs. If it were a super hero, The Following would definitely be Batman.

Vittoria has always been the parent company to Geax mtb tires, but they have recently decided to gather all their lines under the Vittoria brand. This is the Morsa. An aggressive tread, dry to loose to loamy terrain tire. It worked quite well.

Wide bars and ultra short stem. Braaap. Get your moto on! It even had moto style grips which I really liked.

For our third pairing we attempted to pick up a pair of plus bikes like the Devinci Hendrix, Scott Genius Plus, Stumpjumper 6Fattie, or Ellsworth Epiphany Plus but by mid-day these were very scarce. So even while we were both striking out on the plus bikes separately we ended up meeting up with two trail 29ers that were a good match: This blacked out Spider 29C and the excellent Rocky Mountain Instinct 990 MSL BC Edition.

The Intense was a fun bike and we took it on the Lakes Loops which are a little more XC in nature but still with a couple of rocky and droppy sections to test its rowdy nature as well. The fit on this size large was perfect and looking at the numbers this bike should compare fairly well to some of the other new-school aggressive trail 29ers like the Pivot Mach 429 Trail, Ibis Ripley LS, and Evil The Following. Its numbers are a little more mainstream than the Evil but still reasonably pushed towards the longer/lower/slacker genre than 29ers of years past. Top tube length on the large is 24.5″, reach 17.1″, chain stays are not overly long at 17.5″, head angle is modestly slack at 68.5 degrees, and the bottom bracket is a low 13.2″.

The suspension duties were handled nicely by the new Fox Factory offerings with a Float Evol shock out back and a very good Float Factory 34 fork out front. I was very impressed with the plushness and control of this 34 fork. It was much better than previous year’s offerings and one of the best forks we rode at the show. It had very good small bump compliance, decent mid stroke support, and ramped up nicely.

Riding up out of the demo area towards the trails was effortless despite tired legs as the Spider pedaled without undo suspension movement even in the fully open setting. Out on the flowy, smoother Lakes Loops the big wheels picked up speed nicely and seemed to carry a lot of momentum down through the several steep g-out gully traverses and up the other side with little effort. A few of these drop abruptly with small ledges to launch off of and despite Intense’s own description for the Spider stating, “The Spider 29C is our 29” wheel size,light trail bike built for cross-country and flowy single track…..designed for climbing, cruising and fast trail riding.”, it seemed to cross over into more aggressive trail duty quite well. In fact their own promo video just below this statement is decidedly agro AM rowdy, showing one of their factory riders destroying some big boulder drops, steep rollers, and mixed chunder aboard the Spider. I didn’t get the chance to test the Spider in those types of conditions (nor would I have thought to if they were available), but the little sections of mild gnarliness on the Lakes Loops did demonstrate that the Spider is quite capable and comfortable on a wide range of terrain.

High speed handling was excellent on the bermed sweepers and loose flat turns. It was also quite tossable in back and forth S turns without feeling too 29er sluggish. We didn’t encounter any really tight, slow, techy sections on this loop, but it didn’t seem as eager to pop up over things and manual every dip as the Following, nor did it feel quite as agile, but for the smoother, fast, flowy nature of this trail, the Spider seemed perfectly suited, yet still able to handle a fair amount of more challenging terrain as well.

Overall I’d rate the Spider 29 quite highly. I liked it at least as well as the Mach 429 Trail and Instinct eventhough it wasn’t really even on my radar screen before I showed up at the Intense tent. I stopped by in search of a 27.5 Spider but was pleasantly surprised by this bike. It would be interesting to take it down our normal Boy Scout to East Leg route to compare it more directly to the Following but I got the sense that it would comport itself in the rough stuff quite well.

This is the bike I forgot to shoot pictures of so you’ll have to settle for a stock image swiped from the net. It was set up just like the one in the picture. Intense Spider 29C Factory build.

So it seems I keep coming back to the Mach 6. This is the third time I’ve demoed it over the past two years but the first time we were able to snag a large size frame. Also this is the new updated version that was just released. Basically Pivot reworked the rear triangle and pivots for greater lateral rigidity and to incorporate the new 148mm “Boost” rear axle spacing. They incorporated a double wishbone design into the rear triangle inspired by their Phoenix downhill bike and beefed up the cold forged upper and lower links reportedly adding 150% increase in stiffness in the upper link alone. It should be noted that I never noticed any flex in the old rear triangle but stiffer is better. The new, redesigned clevis is now lighter, stronger and provides increased clamping force on the shock body. The cable routing was one of the few sore points with some of the previous model’s owners, so Pivot rerouted things inside the down tube including a large service port at the top and a Di2 electronic shifting battery accommodating trap door at the bottom of the down tube near the bottom bracket junction. The rear derailleur cable follows inside the drive side chain stay back to the rear axle while the rear brake cable follows on top of the non-drive side chain stay then inboard of the seat stay to the brake. The rear derailleur cable does have an exposed loop that hangs down a bit as it exits the down tube before it enters the chain stay so this isn’t ideal, but should avoid the binding problems of the previous model’s routing through the upper linkage.

I’ve always loved the aesthetic, organic yet industrial lines of the M6, and the new rear triangle with its wider swoopy curved Boost accommodating stays and beautifully purposeful cold forged short links only add to the affect for me. We both loved the new, more subdued, blacked out graphics on this black frame. The bright highlights are sparse but accent things nicely without being too busy.

Nate rode the Mach 6 on our first lap and came away duly impressed. He said he’d rate it slightly ahead of the Spartan stating, “What’s not to like?! Super plush coming down, yet totally capable on the climbs. Responsive, quick, and fun.” I agree. While not quite as plush as the Spartan it felt more compact and maneuverable without feeling less stable and certainly sprinted up the short grade reversals with more alacrity. I’ve ridden many very good bikes in the intervening two years since I was first blown away by the Mach 6 at the 2013 Interbike Dirt Demo so you would think I’d be a bit jaded by now and not so easily won over by the M6, but my run down Boy Scout and East Leg still put a huge grin on my face. The Mach 6 with its excellent Float X Evol rear shock was so plush, stable, agile, and confidence inspiring going fast over some very rough terrain that it just makes you giggle. Then on the more pedally, techy flow of East Leg it picked its way over, around, and through some tricky off-camber, ledgy obstacles without getting hung up on square edges or stalled in tight corners or rocky gullies. I’ve heard complaints about the M6’s slack seat tube and short top tube making for a less-than-ideal seated climbing position but for the riding I did on it the fit was excellent. Granted, I haven’t done any long, steep seated climbs, but on the few shorter steep climbs I’ve done, I didn’t feel out of position and the front end did not lift or wander. It felt balanced while standing and roomy enough while seated although the top tube and reach are on the short side by modern standards. The large with a shorter (60mm?) stem felt a little roomier than the mediums with 65mm or 70 mm stems I’ve ridden in the past while seated but not as different as you might think. It would’ve been nice to see Pivot update the front triangle to yield another 1/2 – 3/4″ of reach in each size so one could run even shorter 35-50mm stems. However, the added control and more centered position of the large with short(ish) stem was definitely preferred over the mediums I’ve ridden in the past both standing and sitting.

Overall I would still rate the Mach 6 up near the top of this very competitive six inch AM/Enduro category. And, like its 155mm travel number would suggest, it even spreads the small gap between the more all-around 150mm travel rigs like the Warden, HD3, and Bronson and the more purpose-built downhill/enduro shredders like the Nomad 3, SB6, and Delirium. It’s light, climbs quite well, uber-stiff, yet plush and controlled on some truly nasty terrain. Yeah, there’s not much I don’t like about this bike.

One of the few bikes we rode with the new Shimano 2×11. I never shifted out of the big ring so don’t know how it worked, but it wasn’t obtrusive and didn’t rattle and make noise in the rough stuff. A good look at the new twin spar “Double Wishbone” newly updated rear triangle.

This is one of those bikes that flew under the radar for me for quite awhile. I was super interested in the Balance last year but never could quite hook up with the Brothers to get a test ride. Meanwhile this Riot thread kept appearing at the top of the Canfield forum on mtbr.com, then my buddy Dusty mentioned he had one on order so I had to see what all the fuss was about. As I got wading through the 70+ pages of e-speculation, and e-anticipation I started to see why so many people were excited about this bike.

Canfield Brothers kinda started the agressive, fun 29er category with the Yelli Screamy AM hardtail back in 2011, but with the Riot they take the agressive, yet playful 29er concept and turn it on its ear, with a FS 29er with 140mm of rear travel, 66.5 degree head angle, and downright stubby 16.3″ chain stays. How can you NOT want to ride a bike like that, especially after Evil has been taking the world by a storm with its own short travel aggressive 29er, the Following? I was fortunate enough to meet up with Lance Canfield near the expo area of the Interbike Dirt Demo this week to ride the new Riot.

Lance had his personal Raw, size large Riot out of the van and ready to ride when I met him. He saddled up his EPO carbon and off we went. Lance, though 15 lbs lighter than me, rides quite a bit more aggressively than me so his suspension settings ended up being spot on. The fit of the size large, which sports a somewhat short ETT length of 24″ has a generous and roomy 18″ reach which is the number that matters more to me when it comes to fit. The stack and bottom bracket height are a bit tall at 24.8″ and 13.78″ on paper, but for a longer travel 29er those numbers aren’t bad and what’s more important is how the bike functions on the trail and this bike felt right. Lance explained that the slot car, in-the-bike feel comes from having the bb below the axles yet still allowing for good pedal clearance in the rocks. The steep 76.0 degree effective seat tube angle puts the rider in a really good position to keep the front wheel planted on steep climbs.

We shuttled to the top of Bootleg Canyon on this run and took the bikes down the fast, rocky, and ledgy Boyscout trail which really tests a bike’s high speed stability and gives the bike plenty of opportunity to show how it manages steep, tight, rocky switchbacks and pop over boulders and small drop offs. Wow! The thought that kept coming to my mind as I flew down the upper half of Boy Scout was, “This thing is a RIOT.” I’m pretty sure that same thought must’ve been going through the minds of the early prototype testers as they rode it too…. well, actually, Lance told me the exclamation that popped into their heads needed to be sensored so didn’t make the final name-the-bike cut. You get the idea though. The Riot is so fun it makes grown men utter involuntary expletives.

Lifting the front end was so effortless and so fun that you just wanted to manual everything… . except that popping over those same obstacles was also so entertaining that each successive hit had you trying to decide which to do. My only other thought as I was bombing that particular section of trail was how cool would this thing be with some nice fat 27.5+ tires on it. The Brothers have experimented with 27.5″ wide rims and plus sized tires and they fit fine and reportedly take the Riot to a total frenzy. I certainly want to try that set up next.

My next challenge was the up and down East Leg trail that has a few short steep climbs, sharp switchbacks, off-camber, exposed step-up moves and tricky gully traverses. But the section I really wanted to try was a super steep, narrow, long chute back down to the main road called “The Hour Glass” (pictured behind the Riot in the first image). Lance had told us about it and pointed it out on the way up, thus all but requiring me to attempt it. This is a pucker factor ten exercise in speed control on a very steep, sometimes loose, rocky chute with a couple potential wheel stoppers positioned right at the narrowest part of the “hour glass”. After a couple tenuous scoping out partial runs, the Riot took me down the Hour Glass with little drama and only mild soiling of my drawers. A very impressive, and confidence inspiring feat.

Overall suspension action was controlled and quite plush. Maybe not as plush as the Spartan but active and well damped. I fell in love with the MRP Stage fork last year at Outerbike and this year with it on the Riot was no different. It didn’t quite match the awesomeness of Pike that was on the Spartan, and it is squish squish noisy on its rebound stroke (which I actually don’t mind), but, dang, it was close and I really like this fork. I love that you can control the ramp up with a twist of a knob out on the trail, rather than adding tokens internally. This will likely be the first upgrade on my new Endorphin that should be arriving soon. The excellent DB Inline shock handled damping duties out back without me even noticing it. Lance had the tune dialed in just right for me as well. I was really kind of torn between the DB Inline and the new Fox EVOL shock when I ordered my bike because of trickier set up, a few reports of seal failure, and slightly higher weight with the Inline, but this experience confirmed to me that I made the right decision in ordering the Inline.

Climbing is the one thing I didn’t get to do a lot of other than short steep grade reversals on the trails we rode. There’s a 200 yard climb I usually take all the bikes on halfway down our normal route that I forgot to do on the Riot. It’s loose, with some 12″ steps and two tough, rocky switch backs and one difficult 4′ step/lunge up move. It’s a great test. The RFX cleaned it. I had a couple little bobbles on the Spartan, but from the short climbs I did, I don’t have any reason believe it wouldn’t do as well (or better) than those two. Smoother climbs feel surprisingly efficient. Just not a lot of squat or bob for a bike that is this plush on the descents. The Brothers patented Balance Formula double link suspension is impressive. It feels plush and controlled on the rough, nasties, crawls up techy loose climbs while tenaciously sticking to the ground, yet still has a sufficiently firm platform for longer fire road climbs without the need of a lock out or climb switch. You may want to reach down and flip that switch if you like to hammer out of the saddle, but even that did not induce the kind of monkey motion you might expect for a bike this plush and active.

Handling was not cumbersome like many 29ers tend to be due, I assume, to the short chain stays and generous bottom bracket drop. I was never really aware of being on big wagon wheels except when it mattered: bombing over fast chundery, blown out terrain, and crawling over square edges, holes and wheel stoppers on slower technical sections.

So in summary, it felt like a worthy Chilcotin replacement yet still nimble enough to crossover into trail duty as well. Plush on rough fast descents. Capable on super steep sketchy chutes (google the Hour Glass at Bootleg Canyon). Hugs the ground on rough pedally climbs. Tracks well. Efficient on smoother climbs. I can’t think of anything it didn’t do well. I even loved the looks. If you’re lucky enough to have one of these on order, congratulations. You’ve chosen well my friend.

This is the same color scheme I’ve chosen for my new Endorphin so I really liked the raw with blue ano bits. Very sharp.

This MRP Stage Fork was a bit noisy but worked really, really well. I dug it.

Canfield has several eponymous branded parts on their bikes including these cranks and wonderful Crampon Ultimate pedals. (Is it too late to change mine out for some of these, Dusty?)

Anodized awesomeness. No lateral flex was noted in these stout links or rear triangle.

One of the coolest head badges in the industry. Almost makes you want to buy the bike based on that alone

External cable routing was tidy and went where it should: Down the top of the down tube, over the links then down the seat stays. This DB Inline worked as well as any shock I’ve tested.

Wide bars, short stem, and dropper post are all de rigour for this type of bike now days.

We rode the Devinci Troy a couple years ago at Outerbike and really liked it so when we heard about the Spartan, their 165 mm enduro machine with Dave Weagle designed Split Pivot rear suspension, of course we had to try it. Just like a couple of kids on Christmas morning who can’t wait to see all the presents under the tree we arrived early at the demo area and the nice man at the Devinci tent was willing to let us take this beautiful large out about a half hour before the show opened. Devinci really has its act together when it comes to aesthetics with neon yellow accents on flat black paint and nice clean lines. The angle of the sloping top tube flows into the chain stay which drives the laid down Monarch Plus Debonair shock into the downtube via a sleek U-shaped “Control” link. This allows for a nice long 8.5″ shock and low leverage ratio and lateral rigidity, but no accommodation for a water bottle mount inside the front triangle. That’s not a big deal for me because I always wear a pack, but for some of the bottle-carrying enduro crowd it may be a deal-breaker. Other features of note include a carbon main frame and seat stays, aluminum seat stays, Pike RTC3 Fork, internal cable routing with large ports for easy set up and maintenance, DT Swiss E1900 Spline 27.5″ wheels, and Reverb Stealth adjustable seat post. I believe this demo had the upper end RR build kit but did not feel particularly light despite its claimed 6.6 lb frame weight.

So with fresh legs and no shuttle running we started our climb. Nate rode this bike most of the way up but we did switch back and forth a few times on tricky tech sections so we could see how the Spartan compared to the RFX. Nate felt the Spartan squat some into its travel on climbs and with its higher bar, described it as a bit “choppered out”. The seat tube angle is slightly slack at 72.4 degrees in the low setting but can be steepened up to 73 degrees with a switch to the Hi setting. This also steepens the head angle to 66.4 degrees. The switch from Hi to Lo is accomplished by simply flipping an eccentric insert at the rear shock mount. I noticed the taller stack after switching off from the RFX but it didn’t seem to hinder me on the two tech sections I rode, cleaning the first one easily and the second, more difficult 4′ step up with a small dab. It did have more spacers under the bar than necessary so it could be adjusted down some if desired. Both the front and rear suspension felt very plush on the climb up, smoothing out all the square edge ledges and rocks with almost no sensation of hanging up or stalling either wheel. The rear wheels hugged the ground on loose and rocky sections allowing good traction which translated into forward motion. The Pike on the front of the Spartan was especially sweet. Small bump compliance was stellar, mid-stroke support was good and ramp up was not too abrupt yet still prevented harsh bottoming. Though not its strong suit, the Spartan climbed well, especially in technical terrain. The other thing it did well was keep its rear tire glued to the ground on loose short climbing sprints when the rear wheel is somewhat unweighted. No wheel spin was noted on the same sections that caused the RFX to struggle a bit, though suspension movement did make it feel slower and less spritely on those same sprints.

Once at the top we pointed it down the enduro timed stage on Skyline. According to Nate the Spartan handled the square edges and rocks of this technical trail smoothly and with poise. When I rode it further down the hill on the less technical but still rocky West Leg trail I noticed immediately the pillow like plushness of the Spartan after stepping off the RFX. Maybe not as quick and responsive as the RFX but definitely softer. Standing sprints and throwing it into corners felt perhaps a bit sluggish but that may have been just relative to the RFX which really excelled in this regard.

The Spartan is a serious contender in the super competitive six inch enduro category with its slick looking design and graphics, appropriate but not extreme enduro geometry that’s quite similar to the RFX (tt = 24.68″; HA = 65.8; CS = 17″; reach = 17″ in size large and in the low setting), plush and active Split Pivot suspension design, and beefy , stiff carbon frame. Pricing is also very reasonable with builds ranging between $4299 for the XP build up to $6999 for the top of the line RR.

Dave Weagle’s excellent Split Pivot suspension design that pivots concentric to the rear axle keeps the rear wheel active during descents and while braking yet controls pedaling forces quite well while climbing. In some ways I like this design better than his more acclaimed dw-Link.

This excellent (though heavy) DH casing High Roller II tire might explain some of the extra weight we felt with the Spartan.

This particular Pike was the epitome of sweetness. Mmmm. Very buttery good. Julia Childs would’ve approved.

These V2 780mm bars and 50mm stem felt good but may have added a little weight to the build also.

Excellent SRAM Guide R brakes took some getting used to for this Shimano XT-loving rider with their more gradual ramp up to full power but once adapted they worked well. These grips were a little fat for my preference but “gripped” well.

I’ve been a fan of Turner bikes for a while and have had the chance to ride several of their bikes in the past including the previous generation RFX some seven years ago, so when the all new carbon RFX was announced I knew I had to make my way to Interbike Dirt Demo to see if I could get a ride on one.

The all carbon RFX v.4 is made of high modulus Toray carbon and designed following the successful lines of the carbon Czar while still staying true to classic Turner design cues like the seat tube/top tube taco ‘brace’. It has 160 mm of dw link-controlled rear travel, 66 degree head angle, 13.4″ bottom bracket height, space for big 2.4″ tires, and room for an adjustable FSA headset that allows for +/- 1 degree head angle changes.

Dave was able to keep development of the RFX v.4 under wraps until just recently though apparently he’s been working on it for three years. The time and effort he’s put into this frame shows in its clean, well-proportioned lines, dialed geometry, and class leading strength and stiffness.

Turner didn’t mess around with a bunch of namby pamby neon enduro tones with the RFX. You can get any color you want…. as long as it’s black. If you want something else you can add some sparkly bits or get some custom decals.

We had an appointment with the new RFX first thing Monday morning at Interbike’s Dirt Demo held annually at Boulder City’s Bootleg Canyon. We arrived at the Turner tent early to find Dave Turner setting up the bike. Because of a shipping mix up, the photo bike was in San Francisco and was being driven down that day but wouldn’t arrive until later. The bike we rode was one of the two preproduction models that Turner employees/testers had been thrashing for the better part of a year. Despite that, the carbon still appeared unscathed and all the links and pivots were still tight and creak-free. According to Dave all measurements and geometry numbers were identical to the production version soon to be released.

Speaking of geometry, some, including this reviewer, were hoping for numbers that fell a little deeper into the new school, long front, short rear, low, slack genre, but after seeing the bike and throwing a leg over it, I’m satisfied with Dave’s decision to update in that direction without going extreme. Though the top tube measurement is a fairly generous 24.4″ in the size large we tested, the reach is a middle-of-the-road 17.3″, the chainstays are only moderately short at 17.2″ and the head angle is a Momma bear 66 degrees with option to go 67 or 65 degrees with the aforementioned optional adjustable headset. After riding the bike, I’d say there’s nothing really wrong with any of those numbers as it feels very comfortable and balanced both seated and standing in attack position and tackles both steep technical climbs and fast, blown out descents without favoring one over the other. It felt nice and low and slack like the enduro ripper it was intended to be without feeling like a one-trick pony. Braaap. On paper the stack looked a little high but with inset cups on top and bottom of the head tube and only one thin spacer under the bars we were well-positioned for both railing and climbing.

So how did it ride?

Climbing:
We started right out of the gate climbing up to the top of the shuttle drop off point following trails that started fairly smooth and not too steep with a few rocky tech sections to keep you honest then progressing to some fairly steep, ledgy and loose, switchbacky sections that challenge even better riders, including a little 200 yard out and back I always try and clean to test a bike’s tech climbing chops. The RFX handled both the smoother climbing sections and the truly difficult tech sections as well as any bike I’ve ever ridden out here at Bootleg. It even cleaned the super tricky 4′ step up move at the entrance to Caldera that is my litmus test for climbing awesomeness. The combination of well-tuned dw-link suspension, light weight, and good moderate geo numbers make the RFX a truly great climber. Notice I didn’t say, “for a six inch all-mountain rig”. I mean a truly great climbing mountain bike period.

Descending:
The climb up had given me some hints that the suspension, especially the fork, was set up too stiff for my liking. So before taking off from the top I let a quick squirt of pressure out of the fork and slowed the rebound on both the shock and fork by one click. This trail is very rocky, ledgy, fast (if you’re brave), with a few abrupt, tricky, short steep grade reversals that you can roll up if you keep your momentum but have to take a few strokes near the top if you lose it…. and, to top it off, perched on the side of a very steep sidehill littered with skin flaying rocks and cactus. Let’s just say, you don’t want to make a mistake and go off the trail.

As soon as I left the gate (Innovative Timing Systems was doing the enduro stage timing on this section again this year), I realized the suspension was still too stiff and I was feeling the hits and getting jarred more than I’d like, but was still able to maintain control and keep an accurate line. This is a testament to the RFX’s ability to track straight and accurate even when the suspension isn’t dialed and to the overall stiffness of the frame, linkage, and wheels. I suspect a faster, more aggressive rider would’ve loved this set up and by pushing a bit harder I would’ve been able to just skip over much of the chunder and square edges. But as it was I stalled and almost uphill endoed on two of the short ups due to lack of momentum and too stiff of fork setting. Write that off to rider error and poor fork settings. I also got just a hint of pedal stall as I was trying to save those muffs by mashing out the last two strokes in too tall of gear. Once finished with the short timed stage, I stopped and fiddled with the air pressure and rebound a couple times on both the fork and shock during the remainder of the descent and got it to feel quite a bit better but never felt like I got either end to feel as plush as the Devinci Spartan we were trading off on. I finally stopped at the Fox suspension set up tent and had them set up the fork then re-rode a short section of trail near the bottom with much better results.

Handling/Cornering:
As I got my flow on a little better on the lower part of the trail I was able to appreciate the balanced feel and accurate steering of the RFX. It felt light and nimble and sprinted up short, smoother grade changes with kid-like enthusiasm. The rear wheel did brake loose a little too easily on these short standing sprints partly due to a worn Michelin Wild Grip R rear tire, dry, loose conditions, firmer anti-squat characteristics than I’m used to, and a way over the bars riding style that I don’t think dw-link responds well to inherently. Side to side maneuvering did not require heavy handed muscling but it responded well to more subtle body english. The tires gripped in the corners and the turn in was brisk enough, though with the long, low and slack geometry much of the steering could be initiated with the hips. The RFX is a very light, nimble feeling bike which is shocking for a 160 travel enduro/AM slayer. I liked the handling a lot.

Overall:
If I had to use one word to describe the RFX it would be balanced. Dave Turner seemed to be shooting for a fast, strong, laterally stiff bike that would climb as well as it descends and I think for the most part he achieved that. The riding position was very centered and the bike responded almost intuitively to subtle commands. For me though, the descending over rough terrain was still a little harsh but I believe this to be a suspension set up issue and if the RFX had the Pike fork that was on the Spartan and a little more set up time spent on the Monarch Plus shock (or perhaps with the CC DB Air or new Fox 2x?) I would’ve rated the overall suspension action much higher. The frame was not holding it back from an A++ descending rating, the components were. As it was though, I’d have to say I was more impressed with its climbing ability than its descending (but remember, I was very impressed with its climbing ability). Give climbing an A+ and descending an A pending more suspension dialing. I hate to mark a bike down based on a faulty set up, but in a short 2 hour, first ride impression that’s what you get sometimes. I believe the RFX is a winner and well worth the wait. It has everything it takes to compete with and beat the other top dogs in this class including a strong stiff chassis, proven suspension design, excellent, balanced geometry, and an unquestioned race heritage.

As much as I have loathed the Honey Badger in the past, this 2.4″ front version really gripped pretty well in the loose over loose Bootleg dirt. This Fox 36 was not nearly as plush as the Pike we compared it to back to back on the Spartan. After a bunch of fiddling and getting it professionally set up at the Fox booth it felt decent but still ramped up too abruptly for my liking and was more reluctant to initiate movement on small bumps. I like a much more linear, plush feeling fork. Dave told me there are three chips in these. I would take out one or two if it were me. The M60 Enve wheels where beautiful, stiff, and responsive. I’d like to try the RFX again with some wider Derby or Ibis carbon rims though.

I’m a fan of the clean, external cable routing and industrial strength one piece links.

I just returned from the Sedona MTB Festival where I got a chance to test ride the new Knolly Endorphin. This is the third generation of the Endorphin, but the first to sport the 27.5″ wheels. Noel Buckley of Knolly bikes had created an extremely good bike with the last 26″ Endorphin which embodied all his accumulated knowledge in strength, lightness, efficient yet active suspension design, and durability. Most who owned one could not say enough good things about it. But with the literal takeover by the 27.5″ genre Noel was back to the drawing board creating a worthy successor to the Endorphin from the ground up.

The new Endorphin has 130mm of rear travel, a 67 degree head angle (I measured 66.8 with my iPhone angle finder app) and long front center with a low BB and low stack for ultimate trail ripping. For full specs, visit the Knolly Bikes site. The prototype I had a chance to ride is very close to what the production bike will be and the bike that Noel himself has been testing for the past several weeks. This bike was well equipped with I-9 Enduro wheels, X1 11 speed cassette, X0 derailleur and shifter, Next SL cranks, XT brakes, Icetech rotors, DB Inline, KS Lev dropper post, and Pike RTC3 fork. It wasn’t particularly light, but it felt like it was around 28-29 lbs. I wasn’t thrilled with the short stretch of internal routing for the rear derailleur and dropper post in the down tube. I just don’t see the point of making it more difficult to route my cables and making those same cables bulge out at the lower routing holes in order to be internal when Knolly already solved the cable keeping duties with the very clean cable keepers on the Warden last year. The rear brake does use those keepers on the left side of the down tube and I presume you could ignore the internal routing and run your other cables down the down tube as well.

I was pretty sure the large was going to be the right size for me at 5’11.5″ based on the numbers and I wasn’t disappointed. The fit with 65mm stem was very good. I think I would’ve been even happier with a 50-60mm stem with the wide (780-800mm?) bars that it was sporting. Both seated pedaling and standing on the pedals bombing I felt really centered and comfortable on the large.

Knolly trifecta: Warden, Endorphin, Chilcotin.

The frame is beautifully constructed with light aluminum hydroformed tubing and solidly stiff Fourx4 linkage as I’ve come to expect from Knolly. The frame did not display any flex and there wasn’t any discernible sloppiness in the Pike fork or I9 wheels. So much of the control in rough corners and choppy lines I sense in a bike comes from that lateral stiffness and the Endo certainly displayed that.

Ralph climbing

Paradoxically, climbing did not require the climb switch. The suspension felt very efficient yet active over all the rocks and square edges we encountered. There is a minute amount of shock movement on smoother climbs but it wasn’t distracting enough to me to reach down and click on the CS. The rear tire eeked out good traction even in the few looser sections we found and clawed its way up bouldery, babyhead steeps…. well, like a Knolly. Steering while climbing was accurate and I didn’t experience any wandering of the front end. Pedal strikes, likewise were not an issue. I should say though, that I’ve been riding my Santa Cruz 5010 which has an even lower bottom bracket height for about a year now so I may have adapted. If you’re coming from a longer travel bike with 13.5 to 14″ BB height there may be a learning curve. I’ve been a little less than enthusiastic about the Pike forks in the past but this one seemed dialed and perfectly suited to this application. It tracked well, absorbed both small and medium sized bumps well and ramped up nicely on bigger hits. The rear suspension was good but needed some additional sorting to get to where the Avalanche tuned Fox CTD is currently on my personal bike. It allowed the bike to climb well and stayed active over steps and ledges and soaked up bigger hits without harsh bottoming. I’ll discuss the set up issues in the next paragraph.

Ralph railing.

As I alluded to in the previous paragraph, I had a couple issues with components that tainted my ride a little bit. The rubber indicator ring on the DB Inline shock was stuck down by the can and I didn’t see it when I set the sag so I had to guesstimate and ended up setting it too stiff. The rear end would skip around a bit on faster, choppy descents and felt a slightly harsh despite fiddling with the HSR and HSC at several stops. It did get better with some fiddling but I never felt it was as good as it could be. It wasn’t until later when my buddy rode it and used the same air pressure as me to get the recommended 30-35% sag despite out weighing me by 20 lbs that we realized how far off I was. My bad, I don’t fault the bike. In fact, to its credit it still rolled over square ledges and medium sized bumps well at slower speeds. In fact it worked pretty well when I has seated but less plush when standing and unweighting the rear wheel more which should have been a tip off for me. Another issue was the front brake. On the first descent I about blew through the first several corners with pads that weren’t hooking up with the rotor well at all, adding to the skippy rear end as I locked the rear brake trying to compensate. With the ledgy, cliffy, nature of Sedona trails that is a scary prospect. The front binders finally started to seat in better as the ride went on but the lever still felt a bit mushy indicating the need for a bleed. Lastly the Lev remote lever was a bit stiff and didn’t always release the seat post on the first stab. I should’ve tried to get another ride on the Endo the next day with those problems sorted but we’d already kept it the whole first day and felt like others should have a chance to sample it. I will say that the two other bikes I tested that had the DB Inline mounted and sags properly set at the booth by the tech felt much better and my buddy Ralph reported no harshness in the Endorphin on his test ride with the sag properly set. So chalk it up to rider error.

Comparing the new Endorphin to my Santa Cruz 5010c I think the differences and similarities were pretty much as I expected. They both feel efficient while seated and climbing with only slight bob while in open shock modes. Give a slight nod to the 5010 here due to its lighter weight and VPP suspension, but this margin is slim especially since the recent custom tune on the Fox Float CTD Kashima on the SC in which I asked for less platform than stock. Stiffness and overall burliness favors the Endorphin but some of that is mental because that’s what you expect from a Knolly built aluminum frame. I’m learning that the lighter, carbon 5010 can handle some fairly big terrain and drops without shirking. Technical climbing is close but I’d give it to the Endorphin due to its more active Fourx4 rear linkage which allows better traction and smoother transitions over the square edges.

Rear suspension action in fast choppy descents favors the 5010 as they stand, but I strongly suspect the DB Inline-shocked Endo would rival or exceed the SC once set up properly due to slightly greater lateral stiffness and more active wheel movement both while letting it loose and while braking. I think the slacker head angle, shorter stem, and slightly greater travel also favors the Endo on super steep descents and sketchy chutes and drop ins.

Steering and railing corners is superb on both and one of the things that makes this genre of bikes so enticing. The low, slack geometry and active suspension makes “S”ing through berms and rough corners a riot. Both these bikes are very good and a flat out hoot to ride on many, many trail types. I heartily recommend them both.

With its longer reach and top tube length the Knolly beats the Santa Cruz in the fit department. The 5010 isn’t a bad fit by any stretch, but I can run a shorter stem comfortably on the Endorphin which raises its control and brapability up there a couple notches.

I liked this new Endorphin a lot and think with the right shock set up, my new carbon wheels, and fully functioning brakes, it will exceed the 5010 in likeableness. In fact it will probably end up replacing the 5010 in my stable at some point when they’re available and my bike spending account is back to healthy.

On a side note, I may get another chance to ride the Endorphin next month down in SoCal in the Santa Monica mountains or Santa Barbara so I’ll update this with any additional thoughts and insight and hopefully confirm my suspicions about the rear end once set up properly.

Edit: Here’s the updated impressions from my second ride on the Endorphin.
I got a chance to spend a couple more hours on the 27.5 Endorphin when I was in SoCal a few weeks ago.

I took a little more time to make sure I got the rear sag set right. I ended up using about 125 lbs to get approx. 35% sag. I was running 150 lbs in Sedona and suspect I was getting 25% or less.

We rode a combination of fire roads and some fun twisty single track in Big Sycamore Canyon. Most of the trails were relatively buff, but one descent in particular was pretty rutted up with erosion and had some rocks and braking bumps so I felt like a got a pretty good feel for how the Endo handles the small bump stuff.

Let’s just say, I really liked this bike. The small bump compliance both on climbs and bombing fast downhill was really good. I did manage to bottom the rear a couple times on sharp g-outs or crossing sharp edged erosion channels at speed running this much sag but I suspect this could be tuned out with a wee bit more HSC or a little more pressure in the shock without sacrificing the small bump happiness.

On my first ride in Sedona I kept thinking “I wish the rear felt like the Pike out front”, whereas on my second ride in SoCal, the Pike seemed the weak link.

Everything else about the bike, the stiffness, the fit, etc that I loved in Sedona was just confirmed on this ride. So good.

I hadn’t even heard of this company 3 months ago but at the suggestion of a couple people who responded to my “What bikes should I ride at Outerbike?” post on mtbr, then reading a long thread about it and checking out their web page I knew I had to ride it. I love small companies started by bikers who are also engineers and are passionate about both. And it’s designed and manufactured all right in their shop in Denver. The Guerilla Gravity guys didn’t have a booth at Outerbike but they agreed to meet me in the late afternoon to show the Megatrail. We met up at Amasa and did the Hymasa to Ahab loop.

The Megatrail is a linkage actuated single pivot bike with adjustable geometry via a two position shock bolt that goes from Trail mode which has 66.5 degree head angle to Gravity mode which drops the bb, lengthens the WB slightly and slackens the HA to 65.5 degrees. The frame looks and feels stiff and burly. I was expecting a heavy bike on par with my 34 lb Knolly Chilcotin but it felt a couple pounds lighter than that when picking it up and felt a couple pounds lighter than that when climbing up the trail. With the bike in Trail mode and the CCDB Air Climb switch on this thing felt quite spritely and responsive going up. It was easy to lift the front end across cracks and gaps and up onto ledges and the rear end followed without squatting or kicking. In my mind the Megatrail is definfitely a bigger bike, more on par with the Nomad, SB6c, Giant Reign, Spartan, etc. but certainly climbs with the these light, mini-link, carbon wunderbikes as well. Despite being a bit heavier than the lightest of these, it didn’t feel heavy or sluggish at all while climbing especially with the CS switched on.

But what the MT lives for is rugged, highspeed, baller descents. When you switch into the Gravity Mode it’s like pulling a mini DH bike out of your pocket. Matt from GG called it the Beast Mode. It becomes lower and slacker and even more stable. It is also very stiff and structurally sound and there was no hint of flex. This particular bike had spent the summer at Keystone Bike Park as a demo and it still felt tight and quiet (except for a creaky Headset that needed a rebuild). Gravity mode was a nice improvement when descending but I wouldn’t say it was night and day. However it started getting dark on us and we weren’t really able to fully unleash the Beast and let it run. Matt was really wanting me to see this dual personality and wanted me to bag my second day of bike demos and go do the Whole Enchilada with them the next day. This bike was so fun I almost agreed to do it. Magically though, when in the trail mode it feels very efficient while climbing and competes very well with bikes like the Nomad and SB6 in this aspect as well.

I liked the bike a lot and the size medium Matt put me on fit great even with a short stem and wide bars. This bike comes in both 26″ and 27.5″ flavors. Matt had both frames there and I got to ride them both. Honestly, the 26″ version climbed very well as I said, but the 27.5″ climbed even a bit better and maintained speed through choppy and more shallow descents slightly better. Overall though, I liked the 26″ version better. It was more compact feeling and maneuverable, accelerated quicker, and felt more BMX tossable. Just a really fun bike. It was also set up a little more to my liking with and MRP Stage fork that was very good. It was at least as good as the Fox 36 and better than the Pikes I had ridden earlier in the day. Whereas the Suntour Auron on the 27.5″ version was not quite as stiff laterally or as plush in its travel. The 27.5 was sporting the DB Inline which worked really well but I thought the DB Air on the 26er was just a bit better. The 26er also had a more agreeable bar/stem relationship for me. Changing these things would probably sway me back to the 27.5″ but I was surprised how much I liked the 26er.

To summarize, the Megatrail does compete with the latest greatest carbon AM/Enduro bikes but you have to be willing to flip on the CS and change out a shock bolt to really extend its range. If you dig small homegrown, made in the USA companies, and want something that’s not like all the other bikes on the trail, the Megatrail may be for you.

I give the Megatrail a grade of A+

MRP Stage fork. I liked it a lot. Wide bars, short stem also like a lot.

Long front center felt good and handled really well. No allowance for front derailleur. Man up.

Matt wheelying away the golden hour. This is the only picture I took of the 27.5″ version. The front and rear triangles are both designed and built specific to the 27.5″ Megatrail.

Ah, Moab! It’s hard to describe in anything short of biblical terms how awesome Moab is. In fact, Moab is a biblical name and the prophet Isaiah wisely councils to “Get thee to Moab”…. So I did. As if I need prophetic encouragement to get to Moab, Outerbike holds its annual consumer bike demo festival here every year where the average Joe can pay their money and spend three days sampling all the new mountain bikes and gear on some of the most iconic, scenic, and fun trails on the planet.

I arrived a couple days early to get a few extra rides in and was greeted by rain. I waited a few minutes and skies cleared, then waded through Kane Creek and climbed the new Hymasa Trail on Amasa Back. Somewhere near the top of Captain Ahab at a place my friend Tim has built a rock recliner he calls The Lounge, we were greeted by an amazing rainbow; a promise of good things to come. And, in fact, blue skies, perfect temps, and breathtaking scenery ruled for the duration of my trip.

Here’s my reviews of the bikes I rode during the 2014 Outerbike demo in Mecca….ur, Moab.

But first a disclaimer: These are not full on bike tests. These are first impressions from one guy. One guy who likes to ride mountain bikes. One guy who has ridden a ton of different mountain bikes over the years and feels like he knows what makes for a good mountain bike. One guy who is getting oldish, but still knows how to turn a pedal and do it in a competent manner. Take the reviews for what they are and enjoy. Feel free to ask any question I do not address. And I solemnly vow to avoid the use of the words prowess, poppy, or playful in any of my reviews.

For reference: I’m 5′ 11.5″ with average arms and 33.5” cycling inseam. I like all kinds of trails but really dig the more technical, chunky, challenging type the best. I have biases but they are hard won through tons of reading, talking, and most importantly, riding bikes……. NOT purchased through favors, pay, or sponsorships.

Outerbike. Photo credit Matt Woodley

Day 1:

Yeti SB6c

I usually wake up pretty early so I was up and out the door by 6:30 and standing ten or twenty people back from the gate by 7:30 Friday morning at the demo area, a small tent city hastily constructed in the Southeastern Utah desert adjacent to the Bar M trail system of Moab. I knew the new Yeti Switch Infinity offerings would be high on everyone’s wish lists so when the cowbell rang I made a mad dash (more like an awkwardly stiff jog) to the Yeti tent where it seemed like most of the people in front of me had also decided to head. Fortunately, soon after arriving in line the Yeti tech announced that they weren’t letting any of their bikes go out on the shuttles that day so most of the folks in front of me vacated the premises leaving me third in line. I was hoping to get an SB5c but thought I would ask if they had the new 160mm enduro specific SB6c first. Much to my (pleasant) surprise they did and I was able to secure a much coveted SB6c.

Remembering that the Yeti SB66 and SB75 I rode at previous demos had longish top tubes I asked whether I should take a medium or large and was assured the medium would be the right one. I was able to hook up with Matt (mattnmtns) who responded to my plea for a co-tester and he grabbed a Pivot Mach 6 in size medium as well.

First off, the fit was quite good with the medium, even with the relatively short 55mm stem. Long, seated, pedally days may have called for a bit longer stem, but that’s not really what this bike’s about. I’m glad they outfitted it with the short stem and wide bars. The bars were slightly wide for my taste at 800mm but I soon adjusted and it would be easy enough to cut them down to a more reasonable length later if I purchased this bike and didn’t like them. The “lift” test revealed a relatively light bike. I’m guessing it was right around 29lb with pedals. For most of the rolling trail out to the more technical Deadman’s loop I thought I was in the trail mode on the Fox Float X CTD shock and it was feeling quite efficient and controlled without any undo wallowing in the mid-stroke. It was no XC race bike but it felt light and efficient and was not lethargic in turns.

As we got into the more rocky, ledgy climbs I really liked how the rear wheel felt rolling over edges and rocks while climbing either seated or standing once I slowed the rebound down a click. I’d power into and up onto a ledge or boulder and the wheel would absorb the impact but not squat or sink down into its travel excessively or bounce up or stall too much as the wheel progressed up and over the obstacle. It was firmish but controlled. Because we had the Mach 6 on this ride we switched back and forth a couple times and I’d say the M6 was slightly more plush/smooth in these situations but they were both very good.

This was my first experience on the new Fox 36 fork and I was quite impressed. It felt plush and responsive to small bumps, stayed up in its travel, and handled fast, rough, choppy terrain better than the Pikes I have tried in the past.

Descending proved to be a strong point for the SB6 as you might expect. It’s more of a straight ahead brawler like I’ve heard the Nomad described and not quite as nimble as the Mach 6 in tighter terrain, but it was not awkward or slow by any means either. Once pointed straight down a steep loose, rocky stretch it shined, holding a steady line and barely twitching a muscle. If I had to categorize the feel, I’d say it was somewhere between the Nomad and Mach 6, leaning several ticks towards the Nomad if anything. I was additionally impressed with the efficiency of the Switch Infinity linkage when I went to click the shock into descend mode before this particular down and found that it had been in it all along.

Here I am taking the SB6 down Killer B. Photo credit Matt Woodley

Then climbing out via Sidewinder Photo credit matt woodley

The Switch Infinity doo hicky works seamlessly. I won’t blather on about the details as you can get a much better description of how it works on the Yeti site. It did have a bunch of wet sand clinging to its mini-stanchions when we stopped but the tech assured us the wipers do an outstanding job of keeping all that crud on the outside. It does look and seem unnecessarily complicated for what it does and a bit inelegant but I couldn’t feel it or see it when I was riding. It just worked, keeping the rear wheel glued to the ground and active while pounding the descents and keeping things moving forward and upward with efficiency when climbing.

The 1×11 XO/XX1 drive train worked well. Slightly clunky but precise SRAM style shifts that rarely missed. Quiet while pedaling and while bouncing through the Moab rocks.

Overall grade for this bike is an A+. Probably one of my favorite bikes of the show.

Pivot Mach 6

As you may recall this was my favorite bike of last year’s demos so I wanted to ride it again to refresh my memory and have a more direct comparison of it to some of the new 6″ travel bikes on my list. I was hoping to get a size large as the medium I rode last year felt a tad short for seated pedaling even with a longish 70mm stem, although it felt fine for standing. However the tech at the Pivot booth recommended the medium for Matt who is slightly shorter than me at 5′ 9″ or 5′ 10″, so that’s what we ended up testing. Even so, the medium still felt pretty good and I’d have a hard time deciding between sizes if I were to purchase a Mach 6. But in the end I think I would go with a large and stubby up the stem based on my typical western US riding…. hoping that wouldn’t kill the fun, agile nature of the M6. I do like (or am used to) a compact cockpit though.

Stepping directly off the SB6 onto the Mach 6 while we were still doing some climbing up and down Deadman’s Loop I could notice the slightly more lively/light pedaling of the dw link suspension. Not worlds more efficient but noticeable when first switching off. Rolling over square edge rocks and ledges also felt more plush and seamless on the M6 compared to the Yeti, but not by much. This would be the theme for this ride. The similarities between these two bikes despite their differences in geometry far outweighed their differences and the differences, though noteworthy, were fairly small.

In tighter switch backs and faster moving turns the M6 felt athletic, nimble, and accurate. It went where you pointed it and turned smartly. At the same time, it didn’t give up much to the other 6″ bikes we rode in shear straight ahead bombing over rough and uneven terrain.That’s a very impressive trait.

Unfortunately the new XTR shimano 11 Speed shifter on this bike quit working about halfway through our ride. Matt commented that it was telling that that didn’t detract him from picking it as one of his favorite bikes of the show. Yes, it’s still that good.

In summary, the Mach 6 still compares very favorably to the other newer 6″ bikes we rode. Depending on what you’re looking for it may even still be at the top of the heap. That is no faint praise considering the line up we were able to garner.

I love the clean yet elegant lines of the Mach 6. This is a good looking bike in my opinion.

The cockpit had an almost narrow bar by today’s standards but was probably in the 740mm range and felt OK. My sweet spot is around 760-770mm. The stem was 60mm. The XT brakes worked well and the KS Lev dropper post worked as expected. We rated the Thomson posts slightly ahead of the others in our tests but they all functioned as they should without any glitches.

Here’s the new XTR 11 speed derailleur. When the shifter was working it shifted well; probably even a bit smoother and quieter than the comparable SRAM XO stuff. The 40 tooth big cog was a head scratcher for us though. Why not go 42t or 43t even?

High Roller II tires front and back. I really like these tires and did not ride anything that I liked better. The Magic Mary/Hans Dampf combination that was on a few bikes was a close second and I did like the bigger volume they had.

Here’s Matt dropping into Killer B, the only very steep or technical trail at Bar M. We hiked back up it so we could switch bikes and do it again.

Matt climbing up Sidewinder to get back to the demo area on the M6.

Overall I’m giving this bike an A+ as well. Whether you choose it or the SB6 depends more on geometry, intent, brand preference, and sizing than outright betterness. I preferred the SB6 slightly and Matt I think favored the M6.

Intense T275

The next two bikes we were able to snag were this red and black Intense T275 and Giant’s new Reign Advanced Carbon. They both were worthy contenders in this segment though quite different in feel.

The first thing you notice about the Intense (besides its drop-dead sexy gorgeousness) is that it is insanely light. I doubt this XTR/Enve build weighed any more than my SC 5010c which weighs 27lbs with pedals which is just stupid crazy for a bike of this caliber. The next thing that impressed us was how fast and efficient it felt while pedaling….Again, disturbingly like my 5010c eventhough it has thirty five more millimeters of travel. Its light weight, hammerhead tendencies made you suspect that it wouldn’t be able to handle the same kind of ugly vertical terrain as some of the others. To tell you the truth, based on the numbers and travel I don’t have any reason to believe it wouldn’t, but we didn’t really get to test it in those situations. If it shines in those situations too, then this is a truly special bike. I tried to push it as hard as I could on the relatively tame North 40 loop, running over ever rock and boulder, dropping off every ledge I could find and bopping over every bunny and rut in my way, but all I really discovered was that the Intense is a great long legged trail bike. Matt had the same impression but added that he felt less comfortable on what little tech we could drum up on this route than on the Giant. I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all and actually liked the bike a lot but I wish I’d had time to take it down The Whole Enchilada or the Amasa Back jeep road to really test its rough and rowdy chops.

On turns and weaving descents it felt fast and nimble but was definitely less plush than some on the rockier rough stuff by a noticeable but not a game changing margin. This VPP rear suspension also seemed to hang up just a smidge on square edges compared to the SB6 and M6. The Enve carbon wheels and carbon frame made for one stiff unit which I suppose added to its ability to carve hard corners, but also may have contributed to its less forgiving nature.

Sizing was really good with this large frame and felt pretty similar to the first two medium frames we rode. The suspension was Pike up front and Monarch Plus out back. It would be interesting to ride it with the same Fox suspension as the first two for a more direct comparison. A creaky headset detracted from an otherwise tight and quiet package.

A give the Intense A++ for aesthetics and an overall grade of A-

I think this is one hot looking ride. I’ve said it before, but if there’s one thing that Jeff Steber does well, it’s aesthetics.

Enve M70 carbon wheels, XX1, and HRIIs. Hard to complain about anything on this spec….except maybe the price.

Reverb Stealth and internal cable routing made for a clean looking package. WTB volt saddle is not bad but is a little flat on the top and broad at the wings for me.

One of the coolest headbadges in the industry.

Giant Reign

The new Giant Reign is now sporting the ubiquitous 27.5″ wheels as you’d expect with a carbon front triangle and aluminum rear triangle. The shades of flat green paint scheme was certainly a departure from the neon colors which many were sporting but we both thought it had a nice, muted effect. I wasn’t crazy about it, but Matt liked it. The exponential decrease in the number of stickers was a welcome change as well. The choice to go 2 x 10 was puzzling but may have been part of a lower end component spec. Despite feeling like a step backwards I have to admit that it shifted well both front and back though I have become a bit of a 1x snob and was grousing about having to shift with both thumbs. There was a little derailleur cage chain rattle up front going over rocks but for the most part this was a relatively quiet bike.

I’ve complained in the past about the Anthem and Trance feeling less burly/AM trail than I thought they should compared to other bikes in their class but that was not the case with the Reign. On the ride this bike felt both bigger as far as function and heavier as far as the scales go compared to the previous three bikes we rode. It felt like a bruiser that could handle a ton of gnar. Fatty grips and big volume tires may have contributed to this sensation but it also felt slower and more lethargic going over smoother, less challenging trails. It did handle rocky rough stuff well while rock crawling and seemed like it would do really well in slower, steeper, technical trails where you have to pick your line. Not sure how it would do on faster, enduro type bombing descents but I suspect it would be a pretty good plow bike. But it definitely felt like more of a tractor to the Intense’s Porsche, though I’m sure Giant has a higher end build kit that would’ve evened the score somewhat in this department.

I’ve always liked the Maestro suspension and the new Reign did nothing to change that. It climbed well without undo suspension movement yet still soaked up the undulations in the trail smoothly. The Pike/Monarch Plus suspension combo was plush going over rocks at slower speeds, but the Pike still feels a bit constipated compared to the Fox 36 when the speed and chop pick up.

This just looks so old school to my 1x snobby eye. It worked fine though.

Beefy grips and high volume Magic Mary/Hans Dampf tires added to the beefy, big bike feel.
I hate it when they put the dropper post lever on the “wrong” side.
The tapered head tube with internal lower headset kept the stack low. The bar/seat/reach/stack relationship all felt pretty good for me and provided a nice semi-aggressive but neutral body position.

The Giant is a pretty nice bike. With the right build kit I could see myself liking it a lot. It was balanced and capable feeling, but not super agile or sporty feeling like some of the new school 6″ inch enduro bikes… at least not in this set up. I’d give it a B+ overall grade.

Santa Cruz Nomad

This is the big gorilla in the room that everyone is talking about and to which we felt we needed to compare all the other 6″ bikes. I was fortunate to be able to snag this size large at the SC tent right after lunch when all the exhibitors had pretty empty stalls. I was hoping for the full Enve carbon wheel top end kit but this was still a pretty nicely spec’d rig. One thing I like about Santa Cruz bikes is that their sizing doesn’t put me between sizes and I’m solidly in the middle of the large range. No guessing about whether to take a large or medium, and the Nomad was no exception. Some might prefer a longer front center given the current trends but it was still pretty roomy even with a short stem. I liked the fairly upright, neutral seated climbing position that made the Nomad feel like a smaller travel bike when things pointed upward. On descents and while standing everything seemed to be just in the right spot and I felt centered while in the aggressive attack position.

One of the disadvantages of Outerbike is that unless you take a shuttle which uses up 3/4 of your day, you’re stuck with some relatively mild trails with which to test the more AM/Enduro type bikes. We climbed out to Deadman’s loop which has the most tech the Bar M trails have to offer to try and give the Nomad a good thrashing but still I knew it craved more based on the numbers and all the reports I’ve read. One of the disconnects I kept having with these new capable yet light enduro rigs is that they feel as fast, light, and efficient as XC/trail bikes from just a few years ago so it’s hard to wrap my brain around the fact they also can handle some incredibly gnarly descents especially when I didn’t get to test them in that environment. Like I said, it ate up everything I could find to throw at it without any complaint, but I still wish I could’ve tested it in some truly ugly terrain.

I was surprised at how heavy the Nomad felt just picking it up (guessing 32ish lbs) but I didn’t notice it feeling any heavier than the SB6 or M6 while riding it. I was also surprised to find that it wasn’t as gangly or slow in tight switchbacks as I was anticipating based on the long wheelbase and slack head angle. Either I’ve adjusted to slack head angles or Santa Cruz has worked some kind of black magic to make it work so well in so many situations. Heck, it even felt fast and fun on a butt smooth lazy winding XC trail we used to head back to the demo area. Sort of like a big 5010c. Crazy.

Anyway, like others have said, this is very impressive bike. Everyone else is chasing Santa Cruz to catch up in this enduro category that’s in fashion. I’d say Yeti has done a good job catching and even overtaking the Nomad with a few others nipping at its heals. I’d give the Nomad an A which could easliy move up to A+ with carbon wheels or a lighter build or maybe just by riding it on some trails for which it was truly intended.

Didn’t take a lot of pictures of the Nomad but it was the basic XO 1 AM build. This is also a very sharp looking bike… even with the baby blue and pink color scheme. It’s growing on me.

Guerilla Gravity Megatrail

I hadn’t even heard of this company 3 months ago but at the suggestion of a couple people who responded to my “What bikes should I ride at Outerbike?” post on mtbr, then reading a long thread about it and checking out their web page I knew I had to ride it. I love small companies started by bikers who are also engineers and are passionate about both. And it’s designed and manufactured all right in their shop in Denver. The Guerilla Gravity guys didn’t have a booth at Outerbike but they agreed to meet me in the late afternoon to show the Megatrail. We met up at Amasa and did the Hymasa to Ahab loop.

The Megatrail is a linkage actuated single pivot bike with adjustable geometry via a two position shock bolt that goes from Trail mode which has 66.5 degree head angle to Gravity mode which drops the bb, lengthens the WB slightly and slackens the HA to 65.5 degrees. The frame looks and feels stiff and burly. I was expecting a heavy bike on par with my 34 lb Knolly Chilcotin but it felt a couple pounds lighter than that when picking it up and felt a couple pounds lighter than that when climbing up the trail. With the bike in Trail mode and the CCDB Air Climb switch on this thing felt quite spritely and responsive going up. It was easy to lift the front end across cracks and gaps and up onto ledges and the rear end followed without squatting or kicking. In my mind the Megatrail is definfitely a bigger bike, more on par with the Nomad, SB6c, Giant Reign, Spartan, etc. but certainly climbs with the these light, mini-link, carbon wunderbikes as well. Despite being a bit heavier than the lightest of these, it didn’t feel heavy or sluggish at all while climbing especially with the CS switched on.

But what the MT lives for is rugged, highspeed, baller descents. When you switch into the Gravity Mode it’s like pulling a mini DH bike out of your pocket. Matt from GG called it the Beast Mode. It becomes lower and slacker and even more stable. It is also very stiff and structurally sound and there was no hint of flex. This particular bike had spent the summer at Keystone Bike Park as a demo and it still felt tight and quiet (except for a creaky Headset that needed a rebuild). Gravity mode was a nice improvement when descending but I wouldn’t say it was night and day. However it started getting dark on us and we weren’t really able to fully unleash the Beast and let it run. Matt was really wanting me to see this dual personality and wanted me to bag my second day of bike demos and go do the Whole Enchilada with them the next day. This bike was so fun I almost agreed to do it. Magically though, when in the trail mode it feels very efficient while climbing and competes very well with bikes like the Nomad and SB6 in this aspect as well.

I liked the bike a lot and the size medium Matt put me on fit great even with a short stem and wide bars. This bike comes in both 26″ and 27.5″ flavors. Matt had both frames there and I got to ride them both. Honestly, the 26″ version climbed very well as I said, but the 27.5″ climbed even a bit better and maintained speed through choppy and more shallow descents slightly better. Overall though, I liked the 26″ version better. It was more compact feeling and maneuverable, accelerated quicker, and felt more BMX tossable. Just a really fun bike. It was also set up a little more to my liking with and MRP Stage fork that was very good. It was at least as good as the Fox 36 and better than the Pikes I had ridden earlier in the day. Whereas the Suntour Auron on the 27.5″ version was not quite as stiff laterally or as plush in its travel. The 27.5 was sporting the DB Inline which worked really well but I thought the DB Air was just a bit better. The 26er also had a more agreeable bar/stem relationship for me. Changing these things would probably sway me back to the 27.5″ but I was surprised how much I liked the 26er.

To summarize, the Megatrail does compete with the latest greatest carbon AM/Enduro bikes but you have to be willing to flip on the CS and change out a shock bolt to really extend its range. If you dig small homegrown companies, and want something that’s not like all the other bikes on the trail, the Megatrail may be for you.

I give the Megatrail a grade of A+

MRP Stage fork. I liked it a lot. Wide bars, short stem also like a lot.

Long front center felt good and handled really well. No allowance for front derailleur. Man up.

Matt wheeling away the golden hour. This is the only picture I took of the 27.5″ version. The front triangle is the same as the 26er but has its own rear triangle.